Uproar as Modi replaces Gandhi

It is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi spinning the "charkha" - not Mahatma Gandhi - on the 2017 calendar and diaries published by the Khadi Village Industries Commission or KVIC, a first that has taken many employees of the government body by surprise.

The commission's calendars have always featured Mahatma Gandhi, who founded the Khadi movement in the 1920s, aiming to boycott foreign goods in a non-violent protest against the British.

According to sources, a section of employees and officials were taken aback to see the cover photo showing PM Modi weaving Khadi on a large 'charkha' or spinning wheel, in the classic pose of Mahatma Gandhi.

Some workers on Thursday refused to accept the new stationery and held a silent protest in the KVIC headquarters in Mumbai.

"We are not against inclusion of Modi's picture on the dairies and calendars, but are pained not to find Gandhi's picture," the PTI news agency quoted a worker as saying.

"We simply want to know why Gandhi has not been given the space here? Is Gandhi no more relevant for khadi industry?"

The government-run Khadi KVIC defended its decision to use a photo of Modi, sitting in an almost identical pose while spinning cotton, on the cover of its 2017 calendar and diary.

"He is khadi's biggest brand ambassador," Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena told media.

Opposition leaders were quick to ridicule the image, reports Reuters.

"Becoming Gandhi requires years of self-sacrifice," Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and a political opponent of Modi, tweeted in Hindi.

"You cannot become Gandhi by acting as if you can spin the charkha (spinning wheel) - this will only make you a laughing stock."

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party said the row over the calendar had been overblown. His minister of micro, small and medium enterprises, Kalraj Mishra, said there was no question of Modi or anyone else replacing Gandhi.